SHORT ANSWER · DIVORCE DISCOVERY
What bank statements should you request in a divorce?
In a divorce, request every statement for every account either spouse holds or controls, for the whole period: checking, savings, cards, brokerage, retirement, business accounts and loans, plus check images. Ask for all pages, not just the summary. To check what comes back, use the best software to find hidden assets in divorce.
BY ACCOUNT TYPE
What should you ask for on each account?
Full statements for the period, in the bank’s own PDF. The table says why each one matters. This isn’t legal advice; the attorney sets the period.
| Account type | What to request | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Checking | Every monthly statement, all pages | Pay goes in and bills go out here, so most transfers start here |
| Savings | Every statement, including closed accounts | Shows money set aside and where a closed balance went |
| Credit cards | Every statement, with additional cardholders | Spending by person, and payments from unfamiliar accounts |
| Brokerage | Statements with holdings and activity pages | Values on a date and securities moved in or out |
| Retirement | Periodic statements, loans and withdrawals | Large balances, and money taken out during the case |
| Business accounts | Bank and card statements, and the ledger | Personal bills paid by the business, or income held back |
| Loans and mortgages | Statements with payment history | Which account pays each loan |
| Check images | Front and back of cleared checks, deposit slips | Payee and depositing bank, which the statement line leaves out |
ZeraBooks builds the workflow around your matters and your template for free. No development charge, whether it’s a forensic department or one person.
WHEN THEY ARRIVE
How do you check that what came back is complete?
Prove each statement and chain the months. In Matter 25-117, 18 statements came back and one, April checking, was missing.
- 1
Tie each statement
Opening balance plus every row should reach the printed closing balance.
- 2
Chain the months
Each opening should match the closing before it. A break is a missing statement to request again.
- 3
Remove repeats
Overlapping productions often repeat a month. Count its rows once.
- 4
Build the working spreadsheet
One sheet, every account, the account on each row. The guide to bank statements for divorce shows the layout.
How many years of statements should you request?
It depends on the case and the court, so the attorney sets it. Tracing a specific transfer can need statements from well before separation.
Why ask for PDFs instead of a CSV download?
A CSV export has no printed balances to check against, so you can’t prove it’s complete. See how do you find hidden bank accounts for what to read once the PDFs are in.
What if the statements show signs of more accounts?
Request those too. The list of what are the signs of hidden assets in a divorce covers what to look for.
FREE CUSTOM BUILD
Request everything.
Then prove every page of it.
ZeraBooks proves each statement and flags the months that didn’t come back, built free for your firm.